Who Are You, Really
by Cmyatt01
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple school project for their seven-year-old daughter, Lyarra. All they had to do was make a simple family tree and write a paragraph about where her ancestors hailed from. They should have kept it simple. Instead, they took it as an opportunity to learn something about Jon they never knew. When they got results, so many things made perfect sense.


****Who Are You, Really?****

Jon Stark and Daenerys Seaworth met when they were eighteen, at a welcome party for first year students at King's Landing University. The two felt an instant connection to the other; they left a burning spark that they could not explain. They spent that entire night (and well into the morning hours), talking and getting to know each other. During this time, they discovered they both had been adopted as infants after a tragic accident claimed the lives of their families. They quickly realized they were the sole survivors of the same plane crash seventeen years ago. They determined fate had reunited them.

Jon informed Dany that his parents had met at Kings Landing University, but his mother moved back to Winterfell after they had gotten in an argument. Shortly after she returned home, she discovered she was pregnant. She never told her family his name. When he was born, she gave him her last name, Stark, stating his father had been nothing but a sperm donor. She proceed to omit his father's name from the birth certificate because that she and her child did not need him in their lives.

He had been about four months old, his mother decided she would return to school at KLU for the spring term. So she traveled south with him so she could re-enroll in classes, set up childcare, and visit with her friends. Apparently, while visiting, his mother reconciled with his father, and she informed her family she was bringing her fiance North for Christmas for proper introduction. However, even then, she did not tell her family his name. Therefore, after the death of his mother, his Uncle Ned and Aunt Cat took him into their home in Winterfell and adopted him. He grew up surrounded by love and had five siblings: Robb (who had been born just two weeks before him), Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon.

Dany told Jon she had been born Daenerys Targaryen, the youngest child, and only daughter, of Aerys and Rhaella Targaryen of Dragonstone and had been three months old at the time of the accident. Her father ran a successful small business - a jewelry shop that specialized in obsidian and Valyrian Steel pieces, and her mother was a homemaker. She had two older brothers, Rhaegar and Viserys. She did not know much about either of them, but knew Rhaegar had been twenty-two years old and in his last year of business school at Kings Landing University and Viserys was seven years-old and in the first grade at Dragonstone Elementary School. She was not exactly sure why her family had been on the flight to Winterfell, but she suspected it was for a family vacation for the holidays. After the accident, no next of kin could be found, so Dany was placed in foster care. She was almost immediately adopted by her foster parents, Davos and Marya Seaworth, and gained seven older brothers: Dale, Allard, Matthos, Maric, Devan, Stannis and Steffon.

The young couple quickly became inseparable. Jon proposed after two years of dating and Dany joyfully accepted. A month after they graduated from KLU, they married in an intimate ceremony, surrounded by their family and closest friends, in front of the Heart Tree in Godswood at Jon's family home. After their wedding, Dany adoptive parents, who she lovingly called Dadvos and Mommya, presented the newlyweds with a gift that left them speechless. Apparently, Dany's biological parents had left her a substantial inheritance that was to be presented to her when she turned thirty-five years old or in the event that graduated from college and married.

After a quick DNA test verified she was the biological daughter of Aerys and Rhaella Targaryen, the happy couple decided to settle in the home left to her in Dragonstone and take over her father's jewelry business.

One month before their first wedding anniversary, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter into the world. A beautiful lass with silver hair like her mother and grey eyes like her father. She was the perfect mix of her parents. They decided to name her Lyarra, after Jon's late grandmother. As soon as they looked into their daughter's grey eyes, they instantly felt a love so pure and deep. It was at this moment, they knew they wanted a castle full of little wonders – they wanted to give Lyarra as many siblings as the gods would allow.

It was less than a year after the birth of Lyarra that they welcomed identical twin boys. They named the silver haired, violet-eyed babes Rhaegar and Viserys, in honor of the older brothers Dany lost in the accident.

Then a few weeks after their fifth wedding anniversary, they were blessed with their fourth little miracle, another daughter, they named Lyanna in memory of Jon's mother. However, unlike her siblings, Lyanna took completely after her father's Northern heritage; she had curly raven locks and the Stark grey eyes.

Eleven months after Lyanna's birth, the Starks welcomed another silver haired, violet-eyed babe in the world. A strapping lad they named Eddie.

No one was surprised when perfect couple discovered they were expecting another bundle of joy on the day their eldest precious bean started the second grade. However, when the doctor heard two fetal heartbeats they were over the moon - a second set of twins, one a boy and one a girl.

It was a picturesque spring day when they brought their two newest additions home from the hospital. A boy and a girl. Two more perfect little blonde haired grey-eyed miracles they lovingly named Aerys and Rhaella, in memory of the two whom gave Daenerys life. It was on this day that Lyarra brought home the fateful assignment.

* * *

They should have kept the assignment simple and easy.

The branches on Daenerys' side of the family tree were easy to complete. When they moved into her family's estate on Dragonstone, they discovered an old box in the attic. In this box was a plethora of Targaryen history and a meticulous family history. With this information on these documents, they were easily able to trace Dany's family lineage back to the doom of Valyria – back to a time when it was commonplace for Targaryens to marry only within the family. Back to a time when her ancestors were the first Kings and Queens of Westeros. They knew the information to be accurate because of the DNA test she submitted to claim her inheritance proved her Old Valyrian roots.

They should have just used the knowledge they already had about Jon's family. They should have just used the information Uncle Ned had given them about Lyanna and just left the for Jon's father's heritage blank. On the other hand, they could have just used his Aunt Catelyn and Uncle Ned's information because they were his adoptive parents. However, they decided this would be a great opportunity to find out whom he really was. As a chance to discover and learn about the blood passed to him by his father.

* * *

When Jon called to order an Ancestry DNA test, he was informed they were having a buy one, get one free special, so he ordered the second for his wife. He figured since they knew of his wife's heritage, in detail, her test could serve as a control – as a way to determine the accuracy of the DNA test.

When the tests arrived in the mail a few days later, Jon and Dany eagerly spat in the plastic test tube and mailed them to the lab the same day.

Four weeks later, and two weeks before Lyarra's assignment was due, Jon received and email with his DNA results. When he opened the message, he was shocked by what he read on the screen. The 50% blood of the First Men made sense because until his Uncle Ned married his Aunt Cat, the Starks had never married anyone from the south. However, when he read the other percentages he was perplexed: 49% Essosi-Valyria and 1% Dornish. He concluded it had to be a mistake. He had no Valyrian features. If he were nearly half Valyrian, surely he would have had violet eyes or porcelain skin or silver hair… He would have some feature that would hint at these roots. He concluded the lab must have mixed up the percentage of Dornish and Valyrian blood. At this time, he was thankful they had ordered the second test for Dany as a control, knowing hers should be nearly 98% Essosi-Valyrian and 2% Dornish. So quickly called wife to hear her results. As soon as she read the result to him, he knew there had to be a processing error at the lab. They both laughed, and he stated he could contact the lab and request the correct results be sent.

Therefore, the second he hung up the phone with Dany, he sent an email to the lab, to inform them of the mistake.

Dear Ancestry DNA Lab, Good Afternoon. My wife, Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen Seaworth Stark, and I, Jon Stark, received or Ancestry DNA Ancestry Composition Reports today. After reviewing the results, we confidently feel there has been a processing error. According to a previous DNA test and family documents, my wife's results are transposed. You resulted that she is 2.5% Essosi-Old Valyrian and 97.5% Dornish – She is in fact 98% Blood of Old Valyria and 2 Dornish. Therefore, I feel my results have been transposed as well. My reported results state I am 50% Blood of the First Men, 49% Essosi-Old Valyrian and 1% Dornish – I believe they should read 49% Dornish and 1% Valyrian because I have no Valyrian features. If you could, please send us the correct lab results as soon as possible because they are needed to complete a family tree for my daughter's school project. Thank you,  
Jon Stark

He instantly received an acknowledgement stating that his inquiry had been received and would be reviewed within three business days.

Two days later, Jon and Dany were sitting at the kitchen table, feeding their children breakfast when Jon's phone dinged; notifying him that he had received a new email notification. He balanced Rhaella in his arm so he could dig his phone out of his pocket. He smiled and called for his wife to come over, so they could read the message from the lab together:

Good Morning Mr. Stark, We received your inquiry, and after review, we have determined the lab did in fact make a mistake when entering Mrs. Stark's lab results. Her results should read: 98% Essosi-Old Valyria and 2% Dornish. However, after review, our lab stands behind the results of your DNA Ancestry Composition Report. All of our samples are tested twice to ensure reliability and both tests completed on your sample concluded results of 50% Blood of the First Men, 49% Essosi-Old Valyria, and 1% Dornish. Your Blood of the First Men is from your mother's heritage, while the Valyria blood is from your Father. After further evaluation, it appears your Valyrian heritage is in fact Targaryen in origin, so under Westerosi Law, your marriage is not considered incestuous. According to these results, you and Mrs. Stark are in fact kin. Our testing indicates she would be your paternal aunt. If you still feel these results were made in error, we are willing to issue you a new testing kit, free of charge, to repeat the testing with a new sample. We would like to thank you for your business and look forward to assisting you in the future. Ancestry DNA

Jon and Dany were stunned. This was not what they expected to receive.

"This cannot be correct," Jon muttered as he put down his phone on the wooden table. "My test has to be wrong."

"I know. There is no way the test is correct. There is no way we are…" Dany whispered, unable to complete the sentence.

"Aye, it has to be wrong… I'll just request the new test."

"Daddy? Mommy? What's wrong?" Lyarra inquired from across the table. "Did you get bad news?"

"No!" Jon and Dany both exclaimed at the same time, their heads whipping around to face their seven-year-old daughter.

"No sweetling," Dany stated as she walked around the table to their eldest child, smoothing her silver locks as she answered, "Mommy and Daddy just got their DNA test results back and…"

"Does this mean we can finally finish my project?"

Dany turned to face her husband. Jon could see the uncertainty on her face; he could tell she did not know how she should answer their daughter's inquiry. So when Lyarra's big grey eyes met his, Jon made a decision. He knew she would not understand what the lab had stated.

Therefore, he lied. "Darling, the lab said they made a mistake with my DNA test and I am going to have to resubmit my sample."

"But, Daddy!" The young girl complained. "It took a hundred years to get the results back! I have to finish my family tree or I am going to fail the second grade!"

"I know baby. That is why I think it would be best if we just use Pop-Pop Ned and Nanny Cat for my side of the family tree."

The young girl smiled brightly and nodded. "Okay, Daddy! Can we finish it tonight?"

"Of course, sweetie. Now… I believe it we had better get going before you, Rhaegar and Viserys are late for school."

* * *

That evening, when Jon got home from work, he helped Lyarra finish her family tree project while Dany prepared dinner. Lyarra glued the last leaf into place just as Dany notified them that dinner was ready.

During dinner, he could tell there was something on his wife's mind. She was not her normal, bubbly self. He could tell her smiles were forced and she was going through the motions of a normal, happy family dinner for the children. Jon knew something was on her mind and that she did not want to discuss whatever it was in front of their little ones. He just wished he could talk to her alone, but with seven children under the age of eight, they would not have the opportunity to discuss anything until the children were asleep.

It was nearly ten that evening when Dany placed a sleeping Aerys next to his sister in the bassinet next to his sister. Dany was still being distant.

"I requested they Dany, Love, I cannot read your mind," Jon stated as he sat down on the bed next to his wife and put his hand on her shoulder. When she did not meet his gaze, he noticed the tears trickling down her cheeks. He quickly wrapped her in his arms, pressed a kiss to her brow and muttered, "Gods Dany, please talk to me. Please, love."

"If… If it is true… It the DNA results are correct, will you still love me?" she asked as she looked down at her hands.

"Dany, the test was wrong," Jon replied, taking her face in his hands so she had to look him in the eyes. "There is no possible way we are related. Our families never knew each other…"

"Think about it Jon. It could be possible."

"Love, what are you talking about? Think about what you are saying. The only possibility is that the lab made a mistake."

"Gods Jon I have been thinking about it all day! It makes sense," Dany sobbed. "Your mother was a student at King's Landing University. My oldest brother, Rhaegar, was a student at King's Landing University."

"KLU is a big school."

"Yes, but your mother went south and reconnected with you father. You and your mother were on that plane heading to Winterfell… My family was on that plane heading to Winterfell."

"You always said you family must have been heading there for vacation," Jon whispered, not wanting to believe what his wife was saying.

"Jon, we have looked through the pictures in the house hundreds of times! My family never vacationed in the North. They always vacationed in Dorne or Meereen…"

"Dany, look at me. I have no Valyrian features."

"Jon, Valyrian genes are recessive. Northern genes are dominant."

"If that was true, our children would have more northern features…"

"Jon, our children would be nearly 75% Valyrian."

"Let's not jump to conclusions, love. I requested the replacement DNA test, so we will see what the results of that state. Okay? There is still a good chance the lab made a mistake," Jon stated not wanting to believe what his wife was saying. However, as he looked into her eyes, everything she was saying made sense.

"Jon what if they results are correct?"

"Dany…"

"Jon, I will ask again," she interrupted, "If I am your aunt, will you still love me?"

"Dany, we have been married for nearly nine years, together for over twelve. Nothing in this world could ever cause me to stop loving you," Jon answered honestly, as he pulled his wife into a comforting embrace. He knew that nothing would ever change the way he felt about his wife, but what would society think of them if they were in fact related? Would people think of their children as incestuous abominations?

* * *

Over the course of the next month, Jon and Dany tried their best to keep their lives as normal as possible. Jon went to work at the jewelry shop every day, while Dany stayed home and took care of their babes. Jon could tell his wife was still thinking about the DNA test results. At first, Jon wished his Lyarra never would have been given that project - If she had never been been given that assignment, he and Dany would still be living in blissful ignorance.

But as the days went on, Jon decided to research his possible Targaryens roots, especially after the DNA lab stated marriages between Targaryen were not considered incestuous in the faith of the seven and by the laws of Westeros. He was aware that Daenerys parents had been brother and sister, and many of her relatives married close relatives, but he thought it was because of family tradition. He had even read about Good Queen Alysanne and her brother husband, Jaehaerys who married and had thirteen children. Then he found an article, written by Arch Maester Marwyn, that stated there is a scientific explanation for the Targaryen attraction. Apparently, there is something in the blood of Old Valyria that called to others that share the same blood. He even had research back before the doom of Old Valyria that proved even then, family members married close relatives. To most, the research appeared to be a joke, but Jon instantly knew it to be true. He recalled the moment he walked into the room at the KLU Welcome Party it was as if some gravitational pull he could not explain had lead him to Dany.

That same afternoon, Jon received an email notification with the results of his repeat DNA testing. He decided to leave work early so he could review the results with his wife and inform him of Arch Maester Marwyn research.

When he walked through the door to their house that afternoon, it was eerily quiet. He knew that his wife was home because her fifteen-passenger van was in the garage. "Dany, kids, I'm home," he called as he placed his keys on the hook next to the door.

He was met with continued silence.

He quickly check Lyarra's room. All her toys were in her toy box, and her bed was neatly made. However, there was no sign of his now eight-year old daughter. He dashed across the hall to Rhaegar and Viserys' room to find everything in place, but devoid of his six-year old twin boys. When he found Lyanna and Eddie's rooms also undisturbed, and the playground in the backyard vacant he began to worry. Where could his family be?

He rushed to his and Dany's room at the end of the hall and found the bassinet used by the twins empty. He pulled out his phone to call his wife when he heard the sound of the hair dryer coming from the en suite attached to their bedroom.

"Dany," he called as he opened the door to the bathroom to find his wife, standing in front of the mirror in nothing but one of Jon's white t-shirts, blow-drying her long silver locks.

"Jon," she gasped as she switched off the hair dryer and placed it on the counter. "You're home early!"

"Aye, I got the results of my DNA test," Jon replied.

"And, what did they say?"

"I don't know. I haven't looked… I wanted you with me when I read the results," Jon stated as he pulled her into his arms and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. "Where are the kids?"

"They are with Dadvos and Mommya."

"All seven of them?" Jon asked incredulously pulling out the embrace to look into her eyes. "Our anniversary is not until next week."

"I know, but there is something we need to talk about. And if we did not have any interruptions it would make the conversation much easier to have."

"Is this about the DNA test?" Jon inquired as they made their way back into the bedroom. "Did they send you the results as well? Did you already review them?"

"No Jon, I did not see the results," she sighed.

"I don't understand. Dany what's wrong?"

"Jon, please, go sit down on the bed," Dany instructed. When he did, she walked over the dresser and picked up a thick manila envelope. "I have a confession to make," she stated as she sat down next to her husband.

"Dany… What is this? Are you going to divorce me because we might share blood? Let's… Let's just forget about the DNA test results. It's not important to me. The only thing that matters to me are you and our…"

"Shh," Dany stated as she put a finger up to Jon's lips to stop his rambling. "Calm down, my love. I am not divorcing you. I just did something without you knowing. I requested the accident report from the plane crash."

"What?" Jon sucked in a breath. "When?"

"I ordered the report the same day you requested the repeat DNA test… I wanted to do something to help. I was so excited last week when the report arrived. I couldn't wait to look through it with you… But then you called and said you had to work late, so I decided to go on and review the documents."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jon inquired. Shocked because in all the years he had known his wife, not once had she kept anything from him.

"Because, after I read the report, I was afraid you might leave me and the kids… I was afraid that you would not want to be with me anymore," she whispered.

"What? Why would I ever leave you? " Jon was genuinely perplexed by Dany's answer. "You and the kids are my whole world. I cannot imagine my life without you all in it."

"Jon, I know you said that you would always love me after you received the results of the DNA test. However, were so worried when they showed I was your aunt. I wanted to know if there was possible proof that you could be Rhaegar's son and if there was I wanted to find it so we would know for certain."

"Gods Dany, I love you! You are my wife… And no matter what the DNA test shows or what is written in that report, you are stuck with me until the day I die," he proclaimed before kissing her soundly. After breaking the kiss he rested his forehead on hers and murmured, "And besides, like they said in the email, Westerosi law doesn't see marriages between Targaryen's as incesteuous."

After another sound kiss, Jon asked if she had found any useful information in the crash report.

Dany then showed Jon the accident report. According to the documents, Jon had been assigned to and found, sitting in seat 7A - a window seat and he was strapped in his infant car seat. His mother, Lyanna had been in the middle seat, seat 7B. Seat 7C, the aisle seat, was assigned Rhaegar Targaryen. Then Seat 7D was assigned to Rhaella Targaryen and seat 7E, the other window seat was assigned to Daenerys Targaryen. Daenerys was also secured in an infant car seat. Viserys and Aerys Targaryen were in seats 8D and 8E.

"Dany, this doesn't mean anything…"

"Jon," she stated as she pulled another sheet of paper from the envelope and handed it to him. She then pointed to areas she had previously highlighted. "This receipt show that my father purchased the plane tickets for his family as well as the tickets for Lyanna and Jon Stark."

The room was quiet for several minutes as he looked at the receipt his wife had provided.

"Jon, say something," she pleaded when she could no longer take the silence.

"What do you want me to say?" he finally whispered as he continued to stare at the paper in his hands.

"Anything… Please Jon just tell me what I can do to fix this?"

"There is nothing to fix," Jon said with a smile as he placed the paper on the bed and turned to face his wife. "Don't you see? This clarifies everything."

"What?" she inquired with a furrowed brow.

Jon then explained Arch Maester Marwyn's research, that proclaimed those with the blood of Old Valyria were drawn to one another.

"God's Jon," she gasped. "No so even if we knew, we could not have stopped what we feel for one another."

"Aye," Jon nodded as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the email. Without looking, he handed the device to his wife. "It stills says that you're my auntie, doesn't it?"

Dany took the iPhone from his hand:

Good Afternoon Mr. Stark, The results of your second DNA sample yielded the same outcome as the original sample. Your DNA Ancestry Composition Results reports that you are in fact 50% Blood of the First Men, 49% Essosi-Old Valyrian and 1% Dornish. We strive to provide our clients with reliable results. Please contact us with any further questions or concerns Ancestry DNA Lab

"Well," Daenerys stated as she handed Jon's phone back to him. "It appears, without a doubt, that I am your auntie."

"Aye," Jon replied, pulling her into his arms.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked softly. "Are we going to tell our families what we found out about your father or are we going to pretend like it never happened?"

"I think that we are going to have to tell them. They have the right to know the truth about me and it is not as if we could have done anything about it if we had known the truth from the beginning… Just like I believe our children had the right to know as well."

"Why would we tell the children?" Dany asked looking up at her husband. "They will not understand."

"Dany, I believe it is important that our children know it is okay, as Targaryens to love one another in a way that for most is not okay. I think we should teach them about the blood of Old Valyria that runs through their veins."

"But, Jon, we are not Targaryens… We are Starks. People will not see incest between our children as okay," Dany countered.

"Which is why, tomorrow, I believe we need to take the proper steps to change all of our names to what it should have been from the beginning. Targaryen," he declared.

"Love are you serious?"

"Aye," Jon replied as he pressed a kiss to her lips, "I want the world to know the Targaryens are not gone. I was for us to be like Queen Alysanne and King Jaehaerys and have over a dozen children."

"Well," Dany stated as she turned to straddle Jon's lap. "We already have seven, so I think that is a good start."

"Aye, it's a start," he agreed pressing his lips to hers.

When they broke for air, Dany pressed her forehead to his and murmured, "Well I believe you had better get to work, and breed your auntie, Jon Targaryen."


End file.
